Hi Dave; that's an interesting story. I'm left asking myself whether the microfiber cloths are abrasive. The "A" word, eh ? But, I guess that , used sparingly, they'd be ok. My wife uses these white cleaning pads (maybe 8X4 cm), i forget what they're called, but they work great getting rid of tough dirt. I wouldn't use one on a lens but i wonder whether the same principle is at work. It's tricky stuff, cleaning lenses and keeping them clean. I just snagged a 28mm elmarit asph on the bay. I've been trolling for weeks and one showed up at the best price I've seen. Calling around, first, I tried to assess what I could get for my present 28mm elmarit, in the Vancouver or Calgary markets. Turns out that, even after paying a consignor's fee, it wont cost me too much to upgrade. I'd rather not sell on Ebay because Paypal can come back and gouge your account if somebody's not happy. I've got nothing to hide but I'd rather let it sit a bit longer and not have any strings attached. cheers dave ________________________________ From: David Young <dsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Sun, January 17, 2010 7:52:41 AM Subject: [LRflex] Re: formula for lens cleaning fluid G'mornin, Dave! You wrote: >Yea, I know he's retired. I've had a couple of cameras rebuilt by >Gerry, the latest was a M4-2, last fall. They always come back with >a really neat feel to them. Yeah ... his work is superb, isn't it? >Microfiber cloths ??? Could you fill me in ? Years ago, I'd received a small inheritance... and what I really wanted was a 90 Summicron. However, the inheritance was very small. Some searching turned one up in Seattle, at a about half the going price. The salesman showed it to me, with a new, B&W UV filter attached. It seemed fine, but when I said I'd take it, he removed the filter. I insisted that he sell it to me, "as shown" and eventually, we struck a deal for the lens plus a perfect condition, used, B&W UV filter. Later, home in Canada, I took the filter off to check everything out. There was a significant smudge of "I don't know what" on the front surface of the lens, which was not noticeable with a filter in place. (It probably would not have made any difference, optically, but it was distressing, to say the least.) Over the next few days, I tried all manner of fluids, solvents & cleaning materials to remove this "gunk" from the lens' surface, to no avail. It quickly became apparent that the dealer had not been able to remove the "gunk" either, and the price (and the filter) reflected this. Had I not been so naive, in my youth, I'd probably not have bought it. A few days later, I had to head for the prairies and, on the way out of town, I stopped at my local dealer for film. While there, I picked up one of the then very new, microfiber lens cloths - sold by Pentax, for the princely sum of $20. Later that evening, while sitting in front of my tent, in Banff, I brought out the lens and this new cloth. I removed the filter, breathed on the lens, gave it one swipe with the cloth ... and the smudge was gone! I've been a believer in these cloths, ever since. I don't believe in "over cleaning", but every now and again it must be done. I don't use anything else and I've yet to be disappointed with the results. These days, you'll nearly always find me with two ... one, relatively grubby one, which lives in my pants pocket - for keeping my eyeglasses clean - and a much better condition one, which resides in my bag, for my lenses. Cheers! --- David Young Logan Lake, Canada. Wildlife Photos: www.furnfeather.net Personal Website: www.main.furnfeather.net A micro-finance lender though http://www.kiva.org ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: http://www.lrflex.furnfeather.net/ Archives are at: //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/ __________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! Canada Toolbar: Search from anywhere on the web, and bookmark your favourite sites. Download it now http://ca.toolbar.yahoo.com. ------ Unsubscribe or change to/from Digest Mode at: http://www.lrflex.furnfeather.net/ Archives are at: //www.freelists.org/archives/leicareflex/